Buddhist monk Sanzo Hoshi heads to Tenjiku to deliver a sutra that has powers to bring peace to the world. On the first day of her journey, she comes across Sagojo, on the second day she meets Chohakkai, and on the third day, she encounters Son Goku. With very different personalities, the four constantly quarrel. But through their journey together, they learn to help one another overcome many difficulties.

After days of not eating anything, they finally reach a town, but the place is burned to ashes. Just when they are trying to find out what happened, a beautiful girl in a wedding gown comes their way, followed by a young man, and then the bride's father.

The bride's father turns out to be Sanzo Hoshi's former mentor, Jintan. They are invited to Jintan's temple for dinner. Sanzo Hoshi looks scornfully at Goku and Chohakkai as they feast like pigs, and asks Jintan what happened to the town. She is told that a monster called Gyumao has burned it down to the ground.

In order to stop him from further damage, the town must offer a young girl as a human sacrifice, and Jintan's daughter has been selected. Sanzo is determined to help her mentor. After putting their heads together, they come up with a solution. Sanzo will dress up like the bride and sneak into Gyumao's castle.

What other J-drama lovers said about the series? Source : Jdorama.com

1.

Great Drama [Rating: 8/10]
I'd just thought I'd come and give this show a bit of Rap.. its soo funny and it's soo much like the Japanese Original... Yes the priest is supposed to be a Boy but this is based from the Japanese original in which the producers chose a girl because a Boy would have changed in appearance too much throughout the filming.. So all in all If ur a fan of the old Japanese ones you'll be a Fan of this one i reckon.. as for the Manga never read it.. dont care nothing compares to the Monkey from my Childhood!

Dun be too serious [Rating: 8/10]
This is a good show, every cast had shown their best.....
Each story in the drama brought us a meaning and something to think abt.

And is very touching, some minor part.

Like the jokes, very funny.
As for the costume, if I dun mind the wrong dynasty thingy, it's actually very creative.
p.s. like Goku suit best.

Every drama had it's style. Saiyuki is orginated from China, Yes. But this drama is a Japan version. This is a drama, not a documentary. So I dun think everything had to follow by the book....
If u can't take this, tell u something worse, the recent Saiyuki movie by Hong Kong even had UFO + spiderman suit.

Ya esp 9 really is a copycat of LOTR....+ the wedding grownin ESP 10 is so modern.... hmm....

this is Japanese Drama!!! not chinese!!! [Rating: 9/10]
all rite.. the first time i ever watched Journey to the West was the Chinese version which was made in... 1994 i guess (coz i watched the series in 1997/98)?? well, the one which everyone agree is the best Journey to the West. I was a kid, and I really liked it and love the character Son Goku since then.
now i found out the there was going to be the Japanese version of it.. with Katori!!! first thing in my mind: I GOT TO WATCH IT!!
the 1st episode, it was way beyond my expectation... i was like, this is so different compare to the chinese one....
so i did some research again on the Journey of the West. And i found out that there are many different version of it!! the chinese have got their own version, while the Japanese have got their own version too!! And apparantly, the Japanese version's of the monk is a woman, alias a nun!! so for those who think/comment that this saiyuuki is wrong, or the producers didn't do any research.... i think it's YOU are the one that who didn't do any research!!
as for the story... yeah, i was pretty much dissapointed with the action.. i was really expecting the cool action like the chinese version one...
but then, this is a JAPANESE DRAMA series.. you cannot expect a lot of action ass-kicking thing from a japanese drama. i mean, it's juz not... japanese.... :D
this is one drama that's enjoyable to watch for everyone of any age... the TV-rating for this Saiyuuki is really high for the start of the year 2006 (average over 20%!!), and i think they deserve it....

*n' btw... back in 1978-1980, they had 2 season of the first Japanese version of Journey to the West ever.... tho, that one had more actions... n' much, much longer compare to this 3 months series... :D

Great Adpatation [Rating: 8/10]
I'm surprised that some people are bashing it because it doesn't follow the novel completely...I think they've done a great job in re-adapting the entire story and putting humanity back into all the characters. And the SMAP dude was amazing as Goku.

good. ppl that said bad and stuff, ill do somethin [Rating: 10/10]
the last eps touched my heart.i loved eps:4n 9 cuz i most liked gojo(or gosho) and who cares if it's not chinese?it's japan style!n the person that said opy of lord of the rings, even if it is, ur too mean! and the person who said LOSER, ur the total double LOSER!!!!!!!!!i hate ppl that gave a low rank to my SAIUKI.